


Last Christmas, I gave you my heart.

by wrongtree



Category: BBC Radio 1 RPF, One Direction (Band)
Genre: Banter, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-01
Updated: 2017-12-01
Packaged: 2019-02-09 03:40:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12879414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wrongtree/pseuds/wrongtree
Summary: Louis and Nick buy a Christmas tree and are in love.





	Last Christmas, I gave you my heart.

**Author's Note:**

> It's barely 8 in the morning and I'm probably going to be late for work but Louis just released Miss You and talked to Nick on the radio and told Nick it was okay to start playing Christmas songs and I couldn't help myself, okay?
> 
> I didn't get a beta or a brit-pick so apologies for any and all mistakes. This is the first thing I've written in... months? years? so sorry for that too.
> 
> WARNING: I mention Louis' mum and Nick's dad in this, just a heads up. It's brief but it's there and it's part of the plot.

“Real or fake, d’you reckon?”

Nick turns to look at Louis, who is scrolling through his phone in deep concentration.

“Gotta be real, hasn't it? I’m not 18 in a flat anymore.”

Louis laughs, his whole face scrunching up. “Yeah, alright.” 

It's the first Christmas tree they're buying together, the first time Louis’ admitted he’s ‘round Nick’s more than he is his own and that they should probably put the tree up at Nick’s. Louis will be going back to Yorkshire for actual Christmas but Nick gets him for the next three weeks so they're starting on the first of December, just like all the other crazies out there. 

“I think Gellz knows a good place for trees. The guy moves around every year but she always knows how to find him.”

“Brilliant”.

 

Buying a Christmas tree with Louis Tomlinson is like setting an over-sugared toddler into a toy store. Nick's about ready to strangle him because he can't just pick one and call it a day. They're trees! Dead trees! Nick doesn't see the fuss.

“Louis, what about this one?” Nick asks, pointing to a random one in the bunch, because they all look the bloody same because they’re all bloody Christmas trees! 

“You already asked about that one!” Louis calls from across the lot.

Nick scrubs a hand over his face. 

“Come ‘ere, Nick, I think I found it.”

Louis, when Nick ambles over, is standing behind the largest fucking tree Nick’s ever seen. It's twice his height and is as round as Nick is after tea at his mum's during the holidays; bloody huge.

“That's not going to fit in me house, Louis!”

Louis’ scowled face appears through the pine needles, “I measured, it'll fit.”

They call over the uninterested worker and ask him to wrap it up for them, Nick doesn’t think it needs to be wrapped but Louis insists. Once it's secured to the roof of Louis’ car (Nick had refused to take his own), Louis grabs Nick's hand and says, just barely audible, “This was me mum's favourite part, she always picked the best one.” and if Nick squeezes Louis’ shoulders a bit too tight he'll blame it on the chill that's creeping over London. 

 

Getting the monster tree into the house is a goddamn nightmare and Nick is never letting Louis talk him into this again.

“Lift your end, Nick!”

“I like that better when you say it in bed, my bloody knees are going to give out!’ Nick wails 

“Stop being such a baby” Louis scolds, pushing the tree further into Nick' stomach to get him to move.

“I am carrying a TREE, Lewis, like a wild mountain man who catches fish with his bare hands. Gonna call up Bear Grylls after this! If Mel B can do it, I can”

Louis snorts, “Can you be a popstar too then?”

Nick gasps, “You're a cruel man, Tomlinson. I'd be a great pop star!”

“Sure, love.”

Louis throws out pet names and terms of endearment constantly and to everyone, and Nick will never get over the novelty of being on the receiving end of it, they make his face go warm every time, even if Louis is being an arse while he says it.

 

They're both covered in needles and a touch of sap by the time the tree is standing up in Nick's living room. It’s the greatest accomplishment of the year, probably, and Nick's ridiculously glad Gellz has the dogs today because they'll all be dead if she didn't.

“Right, decorations?” Louis asks once they've got the tree's straight jacket cut off. Louis was right, of course, it would’ve been way worse without it.

Nick, who is still catching his breath, looks at Louis incredulously. “Are you joking?”

“What? You just want a dead, barren tree in your house? Happy Christmas ! Here's my indoor tree?”

“I want to have a brew and take a nap, me. Bloody tree be damned.”

Louis whines, “C'mon!!!! Gillian will be back with the dogs soon and then we'll never get it done. Pop on that Christmas playlist you made for work and let Mariah guide you.” Louis closes his eyes and wiggles his hips for good measure. He squints one eye at Nick and laughs when Nick sighs and relents.

It takes Nick half an hour to find his one measly box of decorations. He places it before Louis like a cat bringing a mouse to it's owner. Or maybe like one of his dogs digging up their poo from the yard.

“That's it? Bloody Christ Nick, you're Scrooge!” Louis groans, picking through the mostly handmade or passed down ornaments.

“Everyone else usually decorates!” Nick says. “Gellz always brings some, Collette never does her own tree, Daisy knows I'm useless at Christmas and has her own box for me, I'm sure half of what's in that box is hers, and this is what I’ve got you for!”

“I’ve already texted Oli, he’s gonna drop off me decorations tomorrow.” He sighs.

“Alright. Come here,” Nick beckons to Louis, drawing him in. “You picked the best tree, darling. Sorry I don’t have anything to decorate it with.” 

“Cheers,” Louis says softly, melting, warm, into Nick’s arms. “December has always been my favourite time of year. I’m trying to remember it like I did as a kid, rather than last year.”

Last December was rough for both of them and Nick doesn’t say anything more, just holds Louis as close as he can.

 

There’s a mad panic when the dogs get home. Pig sniffs every inch of the floor and circles the tree three times, tail wagging like mad, before she’ll listen to Nick calling her over, afraid she’ll knock all their hard work over with the force of her tail, Stinky spends twenty minutes barking at it before he tires himself out, and Clifford, because he’s Louis’ dog, immediately curls up on the couch to sleep and doesn’t give a rats arse about the tree. 

Louis, who is a smug git and Nick doesn’t know why he spends any time with him at all, coos at Cliff and praises him on being a good boy, much better than his step-siblings.

Nick rolls his eyes but that right there, Louis alluding to the fact that they’re a family, is the best Christmas gift he could ever ask for.

 

The next morning Oli brings round the decorations, drops them into Louis’ arms and leaves, and they spend all of Saturday decorating the tree. There’s nothing quite like watching Louis quietly sing to Last Christmas and stand on his tiptoes to hang bobbles off the branches. 

“Make sure you put the soft ones on the bottom, yeah?” Louis says. “For the dogs.”

It’s not the worst thing in the world, Nick thinks. Louis gracefully moves around the dogs circling his feet, lets them sniff the decorations they’re more curious about, and thinks hard about where to place each one.

It takes about two hours total once they’re done wrapping lights and tinsel around their enormous tree, once the dogs have gotten bored of watching them and have gone off to wee on rugs, probably, and once Louis has carefully added each ornament to a branch. He lets Nick add the star, which Nick does with honour and flourish, obviously (which means he almost topples over and brings the whole thing crashing down).  


“Just one more.” Louis says quietly. He unwraps something from his bag and adds it dead center to the front of the tree. It’s a smiling photo of Johannah in a small golden frame. 

Nick’s heart squeezes in his chest, and he pulls Louis in for a tight hug. They’re silent for a long while, staring at their glowing tree and Jo’s happy face.

“We could get one for your dad, if you’d like.” Louis suggests, barely a whisper.

Nick swallows hard around a lump in his throat, “Yeah, that would be really nice. Yeah.”

It’ll be a tough Christmas for both of them, but they’ve got each other and their dogs, and they’ve got a lovely shared tree, and Nick thinks maybe his heart grew three sizes today.


End file.
